The administration’s step on Friday to bar several reputable news organizations from a briefing and to invite sympathetic fringe media in their stead indeed smells like the move of a wannabe dictator. Such actions have no place in a democracy and should be called out loudly and repeatedly.

Similarly alarming is the administration’s request that the F.B.I. counter unfavorable news stories related to its active investigation of interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia. Beyond inappropriate.

Access of the free press is critical to the well-being of this country. As a democratic nation we cannot tolerate such actions.

JENNIFER MILLER

Berkeley, Calif.

To the Editor:

We all know that confronting a bully is the best way to end harassment. President Trump is attempting to bully the press in order to protect his ego and deflect attention from the chaos and mistakes of his administration.

When members of our press are suspended from future news conferences or briefings, the rest of the press should join together to boycott the event. Let the president know that the press will not tolerate infringements on its legitimate and constitutional right to report the news to its readers.

RICHARD S. EMRICH

Plymouth, Mich.

To the Editor:

The two biggest threats to President Trump’s legitimacy would be revelations of compromising ties with Russia and disclosures from his tax returns that would reveal the extent of his financial entanglements and business failures. It is no wonder he is attempting to discredit the intelligence agencies that are driving those investigations and the press that is covering them.

LUIS A. VIADA

Valencia, Calif.

To the Editor:

In 1882 the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote the play “Enemy of the People.” It was about an honest doctor in a small Norwegian town who wished to expose that its spa was contaminated and was spreading disease.

Fearful that such a disclosure would close the spa, the corrupt power and business interests of this small town did not wish him to make this information public. The masses turned against the doctor and he, the most honorable and courageous man in town, was turned into the “enemy of the people” and was vilified and persecuted.

If we fast forward to 2017, we should look at the hypocrisy of President Trump, who calls the media the “enemy of the people.” He, a liar and champion of fake news, has the audacity to impugn and attack an honest media that reports facts that may refute the president’s policies.

We, the people, know who is truly the “enemy of the people.” It is not our press, but the nontransparent and possibly corrupt president himself.

President Trump showed uncharacteristic good judgment when he announced that he would not accept the invitation to attend the dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Clearly Mr. Trump realizes that, unlike former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, he has neither the courage nor the sense of humor that presidents need to handle the ridicule that they inevitably face at that event.

DAVID H. KIRKWOOD

New York

To the Editor:

If I were in charge of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, I would definitely hire Alec Baldwin and Melissa McCarthy to provide the entertainment. Ratings would soar, which is one of the few things that would make President Trump regret his decision not to attend.

LAWRENCE ABRAMS

New York

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: The President’s Vilification of the Press. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe